Giresun Castle: A Historic Fortress on Türkiye’s Black Sea Coast
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.5
- Popularity
- High
- Country
- Turkey
- Primary era
- Classical
- Eras represented
- Classical
- Civilizations
- Kingdom of Pontus, Roman
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page13 sections
History
Giresun Castle is a historic fortress in Giresun, Türkiye, probably built in the 2nd century BC under Pharnaces I, king of Pontus, a Hellenistic state centered south of the Black Sea. The city was then known as Farnakyas, while ancient sources referred to the fortress as the “castle with bronze walls.” After the Roman conquest in 63 BC, the city resumed the ancient name Kerasus or Cerasus, which eventually developed into Giresun. The oldest parts of the fortification belong to the Hellenistic and Roman periods.
Pontic and Roman Foundations
Pharnaces I incorporated Kerasus and other Pontic colonies on the Black Sea into his kingdom during his conquest of Sinope. The fortress occupied a strategic hill on the city’s northern peninsula, overlooking the coast, maritime trade routes, and Giresun Island. Its position gave it a role in protecting the settlement and controlling movement along the shore.
The Empire of Trebizond and Ottoman Conquest
During the 14th century, Giresun Castle became one of the last frontier fortresses of the Empire of Trebizond, a medieval Byzantine successor state that ruled parts of the southern Black Sea until the Ottoman conquest in 1461. Around 1301, Emperor Alexios II ordered the fortress to be restored as Turkish tribes expanded through the region.
The Ottomans captured the fortress without a battle. It then served mainly a local military purpose during internal and external conflicts. An Ottoman tax register from 1486 listed a garrison community of 114 men and 22 widows, all Christians, who maintained the fortress and protected coastal shipping. They were exempt from taxation, while only four Muslims lived inside the fortress at that time.
Ottoman Garrison and Fortress Settlement
The fortress’s military equipment was recorded in 1515 as six cannons, 28 firearms, three catapults, and 28 bows. In 1525, the settlement contained 31 Muslim and 221 Christian households, while the garrison numbered 23 people. The Hüdâvendigâr Mosque, a Muslim place of worship attributed to Sultan Selim I, and a hamam, or communal bathhouse, stood within the fortified area. A report from 1556 stated that the fortress could shelter between 5,000 and 10,000 people.
Until the second half of the 16th century, Giresun remained principally a fortress settlement. The town later expanded beyond the fortified area toward the coast and developed into a port city, reducing the castle’s central role in urban life.
Conflict, Decline, and Later Memory
In 1764, the provincial notables Dizdaroğlu Ali and Abdi seized the fortress. Forces commanded by Numan Paşa, governor of Trebizond, and Hacı Ali Bey, the muhassıl of Canik, besieged and bombarded it. A muhassıl was an Ottoman provincial official responsible mainly for tax collection and related administration. The two men eventually fled.
The Russo-Ottoman wars of the later 18th century also affected the fortress. A document from 1780 recorded a garrison of 363 Janissaries, elite infantry troops of the Ottoman imperial army. In 1788, the fortress artillery repelled an attempted landing by a Russian naval detachment. In 1798, the French consul in Izmir and nine members of his entourage were interned there after Napoleon Bonaparte’s Egyptian expedition.
Reports from 1789 and 1790 described the fortifications on both the castle hill and Giresun Island as ruinous. Little was done to improve their condition. In 1806, and again between 1808 and 1809, the fortress became a target of pacification campaigns led by the muhassıls of Canik against rebellious fortress commanders. The fighting damaged both the town and the fortifications.
Damage, neglect, and the loss of military importance left the castle in a state of decay. When Jakob Philipp Fallmerayer visited on 10 October 1840, he found the fortifications deteriorated and the cisterns dry. The summit later became associated with the tomb of Topal Osman, a figure of the Turkish national movement and a personal guard of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. The sea-facing northern side also contains a Martyr’s Cemetery and the tomb of Kurban Dede, a dervish and student of Hacı Bektaş Veli, a 13th-century religious figure associated with the development of the Bektashi tradition.
Remains
Fortifications and Water Infrastructure
Central Tower and Walls
Giresun Castle occupies a hill on the city’s northern peninsula, with views toward the Black Sea coast, surrounding trade routes, and Giresun Island. The original fortified complex extended beyond the remains visible today. Its principal surviving elements are the central tower and wall remains running south from it. Large rectangular stone blocks form the foundations of the walls, and these foundation courses point to the ancient origins of the fortification.
Cisterns
Water storage formed part of the fortress infrastructure through cisterns, tanks or underground structures designed to hold water. By Fallmerayer’s visit in 1840, the cisterns were dry, reflecting the deteriorated condition of the site during the late Ottoman period.
Religious and Funerary Features
Hüdâvendigâr Mosque and Hamam
The fortified settlement historically included the Hüdâvendigâr Mosque and a hamam. The mosque is attributed to Sultan Selim I, while the hamam served the communal bathing needs of the fortress settlement. Both formed part of the Ottoman-period facilities within the defensive enclosure.
Summit Tomb
The highest point of the castle contains the tomb of Topal Osman, who was associated with the Turkish national movement and served as a personal guard of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. The tomb is now one of the identified features on the summit.
Martyr’s Cemetery and Kurban Dede’s Tomb
On the northern side facing the sea are a Martyr’s Cemetery and the tomb of Kurban Dede. Kurban Dede was a dervish, a member of a Sufi religious tradition, and a student of Hacı Bektaş Veli. These funerary features occupy the sea-facing part of the surviving castle area.
